Orpheus warbler

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Orpheus warbler
below: Orpheus warbler (Sylvia hortensis)

below: Orpheus warbler ( Sylvia hortensis )

Systematics
Order : Passerines (Passeriformes)
Subordination : Songbirds (passeri)
Superfamily : Sylvioidea
Family : Warblers (Sylviidae)
Genre : Warblers ( Sylvia )
Type : Orpheus warbler
Scientific name
Sylvia hortensis
( Gmelin , 1789)

The Orpheus warbler ( Sylvia hortensis ) is a singing bird from the genus of Whitethroats ( Sylvia ). The Orpheus warbler is a very rare breeding and summer bird in Central Europe and is only found locally in Switzerland. In addition to the sparrowhawk , it is one of the largest Central European species of its genus.

description

The Orpheus warbler is 15 to 16 centimeters long and weighs 28 grams. This makes it one of the largest warblers and significantly larger than the blackcap .

The upper side is gray, the underside is dirty white, the under tail-coverts are blurred and spotted. The throat is light. The tail is cut straight and has white outer edges. The beak is strong and longer than that of the blackcap.

Adult males have a gray-black forehead, ear-coverts and under-eye stripes. The head is otherwise dark gray and blurred into the gray back. The wing covers are also gray. The iris is light yellow.

Females in magnificent dress also have dark ear covers and under-eye stripes, the head is otherwise olive-gray, significantly less dark than the male. The back and the wing covers are brownish-gray. The flanks have a brownish tinge. The iris is dark.

Immature young birds in the first winter are colored similar to the females, but the ear covers and under-eye stripes are a little lighter, the head is light gray. The flanks are much more brownish, as is the underside. The under tail coverts are light gray.

voice

The call is a clicking "tab" that is similar to the call of the blackcap. With concern the Orpheus warbler also calls buzzing "trrrrr" that the mask warbler recalls. Furthermore, it also calls hoarse "tschäh" that the barred warbler is similar.

The singing of the nominate form ( S. h. Hortensis ) in south-western Europe is simple and has clear motifs that are repeated a few times, similar to the ring thrush , e.g. B. "TÜrü TÜrü TÜrü TÜrü ... Líru Líru Líru trü ...". The song of the subspecies S. h. crassirostris in the southeast has longer and more varied stanzas and sounds a bit like the nightingale , e.g. B. "TRÜ TRÜ TRÜ schiWÜ, jo-jo-jo-brü-TRíüh".

Habitat and Distribution

The Orpheus warbler lives in the deciduous forest, z. B. oak forest , olive groves or lush river bank vegetation, in high bush forest with scattered trees, mostly on sunny, stony mountain slopes, sometimes in pine forest.

The distribution area is the western and central Mediterranean area . In the northern Mediterranean, the species occurs from Spain westward to Italy; in the southern Mediterranean from Morocco eastwards via Algeria to northwestern Tunisia. Further east there are still local areas of distribution in Libya. The long-distance migrant can be seen in the breeding areas from April to August. The Orpheus warbler has its wintering areas in Africa in a strip south of the Sahara roughly in the area of ​​the Sahel zone and there from the west coast of Africa to roughly the eastern border of Chad .

nutrition

The Orpheus warbler feeds on spiders , mollusks, berries , insects and their larvae .

Reproduction

Orpheus warbler eggs

Orpheus warblers are sexually mature from the age of one . The bowl-shaped nest , built from grass, roots, hair and stalks, is usually built at chest height in a bush or low tree. The 4 to 5 eggs are incubated by both partners for 12 to 14 days from May to July. The young birds hatch naked and stay in the nest for 13 to 14 days.

literature

  • Hans-Günther Bauer, Einhard Bezzel and Wolfgang Fiedler (eds.): The compendium of birds in Central Europe: Everything about biology, endangerment and protection. Volume 2: Passeriformes - passerine birds. Aula-Verlag Wiebelsheim, Wiesbaden 2005, ISBN 3-89104-648-0 .
  • Svensson, L .; Grant, PJ; Mullarney, K .; Zetterström, D .: The new cosmos bird guide - all species of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-440-07720-9 .

Web links

Commons : Orpheus warbler ( Sylvia hortensis )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files